Erased: Saving the Uyghur Internet

Key takeaways

The digital erasure of Uyghur culture by the Chinese government poses significant threats to their language and identity.
Efforts like Kenji's to restore erased websites serve as a vital lifeline to preserving Uyghur cultural heritage.
Censorship in China leads to innovative means of resistance among the Uyghur community, showcasing their resilience.
Creative expressions can be both a form of subtle resistance and a means of communication amidst oppressive regimes.
The fragility of digital memory highlights the importance of initiatives that strive to recover and preserve lost cultural histories.

Summary

The Fragile History of the Uyghur Internet

The episode opens with Kenji, a coder in Japan, who works tirelessly to resurrect the Uyghur web, wiped out by the Chinese government's censorship. Discussing his work with RIDAT, he uses the Internet Archive to recover lost websites, underscoring the importance of preserving cultural heritage online. The fragility of digital memory is highlighted, emphasizing that even digital information can vanish without preservation efforts.

The Impact of State Censorship on Uyghur Culture

The story transitions to the events of July 2009, when violent protests in Xinjiang led to an internet blackout that lasted for months. Interviewees discuss how the Uyghur online landscape was devastated during this time, with vital cultural websites disappearing. Johar Ilham, a Uyghur activist, shares her father's attempts to document the lost identities and stories of those affected, painting a grim picture of the cultural and humanitarian impacts of censorship.

The Fight to Restore a Lost Digital Heritage

Kenji, now living in Japan, decides to use his coding skills to help the Uyghur community by restoring erased websites. He builds the Uyghur Archive, working in his spare time to bring back lost content like music and articles, but faces significant technical challenges. Despite the setbacks, his efforts aim to preserve Uyghur identity and culture in a digital format, serving as a defiant act of resistance.

Creative Resistance and the Struggle for Expression

The podcast also explores how Uyghurs find creative ways to express their pain and hopes amid censorship. Johar Ilham explains how locals use coded language in songs and images to communicate feelings of loss and resilience. These unique expressions are nuances of daily life in a heavily monitored environment, and the narrative captures their spirit of defiance against ongoing oppression.

A Digital Archive of Resilience

The episode concludes with Kenji's reflection on the importance of his work and the risks involved, as his efforts may attract the attention of Chinese authorities. He resolves to continue building the archive, believing that preserving these websites is crucial for future generations of Uyghurs. His determination underscores a hopeful message about resilience in the face of adversity.

Show notes

What happens when a government erases a people’s digital past? This week on Click Here’s Mic Drop, the story of China’s quiet purge of the Uyghur web—and the lone coder determined to bring it back to life.

ERASED is a four-part investigation into how China is wiping Uyghur culture from existence — one law, one app, one person, one website at a time. From shuttered schools to vanishing websites, ERASED uncovers an authoritarian regime’s campaign to delete a culture — and the unlikely rebels racing to stop it.

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